Better Business Bureau presents Lifetime Achievement Award to Gerald M. Cole on March 21

CHICAGO, IL – Gerald M. Cole will receive the James E. Baumhart Lifetime Achievement Award from the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois (BBB) at the group’s 86th Annual Dinner Meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2013, at the Chicago Downtown Marriott.

“Jerry Cole is an outstanding example of a person whose support of the BBB is both personal and professional,” said Steve J. Bernas, president & CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. “Jerry has been affiliated with the BBB for almost 40 years and has been a member of our Board of Directors for more than 30 years. He has greatly contributed to the effective operation of the organization for decades.”

Cole is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the BBB, as well as chair of the Ethics and Standards Committee, which helps enforce ethical guideline with Accredited Businesses. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the BBB Educational Foundation.

This award is named after James E. Baumhart, the immediate past president of the BBB. He dedicated 43 years to the BBB and its commitment to enhance an ethical marketplace.

“The Baumhart Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a business person who has made an outstanding contribution in support of the BBB’s mission,” said Bernas. “It is presented only when there is a person worthy of the award.”

Cole has a long-time commitment to the community and not-for-profit sectors as well. In addition to his work with the BBB, he is past president of both Jaycees and Lions clubs as well as a past board member of United Way, Junior Achievement and Chambers of Commerce.

Cole is a past chairman and a current director of Special Olympics Illinois and also is a past chairman and a current Director of the Special Olympics Illinois Foundation. He is a board member and past vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of North Central College and past chairman of the Investment Committee.

Cole spent the majority of his long career in the financial services business with Kemper Financial Services (KFS). He joined the firm in the mid-seventies, when the firm had less than 75 employees, and left when the company was sold in 1996 with over 3,000 employees.

During his more than 35 years in the financial services industry, he also held leadership positions in a variety of industry groups, including the Securities Industry Association Sales and Marketing Committee, the Inter-Financial Association, which he served as Chairman, as well as the No-Load Mutual Fund Association, which he also served as Chairman.

After leaving KFS, Cole did two long-term consulting projects for investment firms in St Louis and Chicago. In 1998, he co-founded KCS & World, an integrated marketing communications agency serving both consumer and business-to-business marketers. The firm attracted a wide variety of clients, particularly those from the financial services sectors. KCS & World is now part of Creative On Call since June of 2004.

Cole is currently chairman and CEO of MAGS II LLC. MAGS focuses on systems that process waste streams with landfill avoidance.